During a California divorce, the information initially exchanged between spouses may not answer every question relevant to the case. When additional information is needed, the parties may use formal discovery procedures.

One discovery method is an interrogatory—a written question that requires the responding party to provide information under oath. Interrogatories can be used to investigate issues involving property, income, debts, support, and other disputed matters.

What Is the Purpose of Interrogatories?

Interrogatories are designed to obtain relevant information from the other party and clarify that person’s position on issues involved in the case.

Because the answers are provided under oath, they can also establish what the responding party has said about a particular issue. That may become important if the person’s position or testimony changes later.

For example, interrogatories may be used as part of an effort to obtain information concerning property ownership, financial transactions, separate-property claims, or other matters requiring additional investigation.

Form Interrogatories and Special Interrogatories

Not all interrogatories are the same.

California family law cases may involve Form Interrogatories—Family Law, which provides standardized questions covering subjects commonly encountered in family law proceedings.

Special interrogatories, by contrast, can be drafted to address specific factual issues in a particular case.

That distinction can be useful when a divorce contains an unusual financial issue that cannot be fully explored through standardized questions.

Interrogatories may also be less expensive than conducting a deposition. Unlike an ordinary conversation between spouses, formal interrogatories create written responses that can be reviewed and compared with other evidence.

A Party Cannot Always Respond With “I Don’t Know”

Interrogatories can require more than simply answering from immediate memory.

The responding party generally cannot claim ignorance when the requested information is reasonably available to them or could be obtained through a reasonable and good-faith effort from other people or organizations, when that information is not equally available to the requesting party.

This feature can make interrogatories useful when one spouse has better access to important financial or property information.

Discovery may also be combined with other tools. For example, requests for production can be used to obtain documents, while requests for admission can ask a party to admit specific facts or the genuineness of particular documents.

Written Discovery Can Clarify Disputed Issues

Interrogatories are not necessary to investigate every issue in every divorce. Their usefulness depends on what information is missing and what disputes need to be resolved.

When appropriately focused, however, written questions can help identify the facts each spouse relies upon, locate additional sources of information, and narrow the issues that remain disputed as a case progresses.